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How to: 5R55E Valve Body Rebuild Diary

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What caused my forward clutch to fry?

Hello all, thank you for taking the time to read this post.

I have a '99 Explorer with the 4.0L OHV and 5r55e transmission. Like many others I have had my share of slipping, shift flares, etc. Thanks to this excellent site I have been able to do many repairs myself and am grateful to have found such a great community of enthusiasts for this vehicle. I recently (less than a year ago) replaced my valve body to resolve an ever escalating slip/flare between 2nd and 3rd and problems getting forward any gear engagement. I planned on rebuilding my old VB but found a new and upgraded one on Ebay with the bonded sep gasket and other mods. Once installed the problem was gone and she shifted fine. However, I still had some forward engagement issues, it was better than it had been but it still persisted. It gradually got worse until I lost all ability to use any forward gear.

Feeling emboldened by the advice and information found on these forums I decided to attempt my first automatic transmission rebuild. I've always tried to do as much of the work on all of my vehicles through the years. I am mechanically inclined and like to learn what I can, when I can. So I've torn in to my 5r55e and found that the forward clutch is completely fried and found some fine hair-like metal shavings in the immediate surrounding area.

My question is what caused it to fry. The vehicle has 174K but it turns out that my trans is from a 2000 not a 1999. Not being the original owner I have no idea why the trans was replaced, nor do I know how many miles are on this transmission. Since the symptoms were there when I replaced the valve body was the low pressure the cause of the clutch going? Would it have continued to degrade even after correcting the pressure issue and was therefor just a matter of time. Could there be another cause, like a weak pump or bad seal. Will simply replacing the internals of the forward clutch assembly be enough. Or do I need that whole drum? I dont want to have to pull it out a year or two down the road to find its occurred again. Any suggestions or advice or anyone who has had the same problems insights are welcomed and are appreciated.

Once again thanks for taking the time to read and/or respond.

Joe S.
 



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Joe: Once you have a catastrophic transmission failure, in any part, it is best to replace anything remotely suspect as being affected by the failure. I would put an all new forward clutch assembly back in. Small difference in price.

I would completely rebuild the valve body as well. Good time to add upgrades, if you are so inclined. With metal particles, flush every passage in the tranny body and then blow them out.

YOU are why I posted so much about transmissions as I did long ago... You can do it.

Transmissions just do not do well with shortcuts... is my current message.

Let me know how it goes.

Glacier991.
 






A huge thank you for writing all this up. I have learned so much from the information within. Your recent reply is appreciated as well. I would like to ask a couple questions to further my understanding though.

After reading this diary I set out to rebuild my VB but found a new VB assembly for just under $200 and it had at least the upgraded seperator plate with the bonded gasket. I'm not sure about any other mods though. Now that I have disassembled the entire transmission I have done some preliminary checks to the VB. The resistance of each of the solenoid/clutches, confused as to what I should call them, but The EPC, TCC and 4 shift solenoids are within spec. So I think I am okay with those. Do you suggest that I replace them anyways? Maybe just the EPC because it works so hard?

The coast clutch assembly outer drum has some light grooving from the band. It appears to be minor, nothing too severe (I think). The internals look fine. I believe the kit contains the internals (frictions, steels, etc.) so I'll replace them anyways. I also plan on replacing the internal speed sensor since I'm in the case anyways. From there through to the forward clutch assembly everything looks fine. The internals of it are completely cooked though. This is the area that I find the hair like shavings in. The planetary gear itself looks fine. So is there anything else in the immediate area that I should focus on? What about an additional trans cooler?

Finally, can you recommend a reputable parts supplier? The rebuild kits I've found seem to be very different from one another. One master kit will have bands but no servos, another has servos, but no bands. It is very confusing. Torque converters vary drastically in price it seems as well. I've seen converters from $102 up to $269...

Thank you so very much for your assistance. I value all the information you've shared.

JS
 






trans parts

I am no trans guru but can speak from experience. Always replace the torque converter, anything that was in the transmission like shavings etc could end up in there and you can not flush it out. Also the torque converter drives the pump, After rebuilding my transmission in my 4 door with just a rebuild kit and new torque converter, a year later the pump cracked and ruined the new torque converter hub. The drum that has light grooving, I would replace that as well.(maybe post a picture of it)
There are also Torrington bearings in the transmission, I would replace them as well.
Replacing the EPC solenoid and all others is a good idea. However if one of those solenoids goes bad they are not to hard to replace, you can just drop the pan, don't need to pull the transmission for them.
Also flush the trans cooler and use a quality fluid and the right kind.
There are so many parts that can fail you can see why shops charge 2500 and up to rebuild and the warranty is usually for only a year.

Maybe someone else can answer about what may have lead to the forward clutch internals going bad and whether or not to install an external cooler, and where to get parts.
 






Ordered my parts... some of them at least

Well I scoured the internet tirelessly and went ahead and ordered the major parts for my rebuild. I went with a Stage 4 (out of 5) overhaul kit. All seals, bushings, gaskets, frictions, steels, all three bands and more included. It seems the only thing differentiating it from the Stage 5 kit is the VB shift kit and rebuild pieces are not included. The Stage 5 kit was $65 more than the Stage 4 and I found the VB kit for $35 so that was a little money saved. I ordered the speed sensor that is inside the case since the only way to get to it is by removing and disassembling the transmission. Why take a chance? Also ordered the torque converter.

I found all three servos for just under $100 but I am not sure whether I can afford to replace them yet. I wonder if someone can chime in and tell me if it is a necessity. Nor have I been able to find the coast clutch/overdrive drum I mentioned that showed some wear. Plus I do not know if the overhaul kit will have the bearings that are throughout the transmission.

All in so far I've spent:

$273.00 Stage 4 Overhaul Kit
$130.00 Torque Converter
$30.00 Speed Sensor
$35.00 Transgo Valve Body Rebuild/Shift Kit

SubTotal is $468.00

In addition to the items I needed some tools so:

$93.00 on a three ton floor jack
$40.00 on a transmission plate for the jack
$30.00 a couple of hand tools I needed, etc.

Subtotal (2) $631.00

Costs still to come...

$60.00 Mercon V Fluid
$30.00 Cooling line and filter flush

Subtotal (3) $721.00

Possible additions

$100.00 Forward, intermediate and reverse servos
$30.00 Bearings (guesstimate)

Subtotal (4) $851 (if these last two are purchased)

Not a cheap job, but a lot better than paying someone else to do the work for me.

I'll update when all is said and done.

Wish me luck!!
 






The bearings I would expect to all be in a big overhaul kit like that you posted of. You should replace all of the servos, those are main items to wear. For the shift solenoids, you should replace the 1/2 and TCC units for sure, you could skimp on the reverse and the other one, but the cost isn't that much compared to the whole parts list.

I need to start making my purchases for rebuilding mine. I have 148k miles on the 5R, and something inside let go(I think a torrington bearing for one).

Post a list of your parts #'s and sources if you can easily. Things may change months and years later, but the list will help a lot of people for quite a while when they go hunting for the parts. Regards,
 






On an 5r55e valve body, part number 47 is retained by 6 in the SSB bore (diagram from earlier post). Where on 47 is it actually retained? the narrow part of the wide part?

Thanx
 






What's the most likely cause of no forward gears at all yet reverse is fine in a 2002 Sport Trac with V6?

It failed slowly, it'd take a bit to shift into drive then would work normally. It took longer and longer to shift and now won't go forward at all.
 






Will it move if you turn overdrive off?
 






What's the most likely cause of no forward gears at all yet reverse is fine in a 2002 Sport Trac with V6?

It failed slowly, it'd take a bit to shift into drive then would work normally. It took longer and longer to shift and now won't go forward at all.

The most likely cause is the failure is the forward clutch, either the clutches failed or the sealing rings failed and that caused the clutches to fail. Whatever it is it will have to come out to be repaired.
 












The most likely cause is the failure is the forward clutch, either the clutches failed or the sealing rings failed and that caused the clutches to fail. Whatever it is it will have to come out to be repaired.

That's my suspicion. Happened to the C4 in my sister's 1977 V8 Mustang one Sunday some time in the 90's - but suddenly all at once. Took off down the road and *pfft*, no more going forward. The inner O ring for the forward clutch was hard as metal and had cracked.

That was the first automatic I rebuilt.
 






I have a 96 ranger 4r55e with strange behavior. I rebuilt last year and it was working great until about 3 months ago. Started acting very strange, pulled the pan and found insulation missing on several wires in the harness causing shorts. Replaced the harness and all seemed fine at first. I now have a condition where it shifts great up but gets stuck in a coast condition. I'll try to describe it. It does essentially the same thing in drive, with OD on or off or if I manually place in 2nd. Ex. In 2nd gear, accelerate up to around 30, as long as I keep steady on the gas everything is good, when I let off the gas and coast and then re-apply the trans does not engage, when the speed drops back down around 22-24 I can accelerate again. In drive or OD it does this at any speed above 40 and will not re-engage until I get to about 30-32. Wondering if something that was shorting out could have blown the gasket. Will probably pull the VB but I'd like to know what this could be first. Thanks.
 






I have a 96 ranger 4r55e with strange behavior. I rebuilt last year and it was working great until about 3 months ago. Started acting very strange, pulled the pan and found insulation missing on several wires in the harness causing shorts. Replaced the harness and all seemed fine at first. I now have a condition where it shifts great up but gets stuck in a coast condition. I'll try to describe it. It does essentially the same thing in drive, with OD on or off or if I manually place in 2nd. Ex. In 2nd gear, accelerate up to around 30, as long as I keep steady on the gas everything is good, when I let off the gas and coast and then re-apply the trans does not engage, when the speed drops back down around 22-24 I can accelerate again. In drive or OD it does this at any speed above 40 and will not re-engage until I get to about 30-32. Wondering if something that was shorting out could have blown the gasket. Will probably pull the VB but I'd like to know what this could be first. Thanks.

I don't think that anything shorting out blew out the gaskets, but I admit its a strange issue you are experiencing, I have never seen this issue with that tranny.

Do you have any engine braking at all? in any gear at anytime?

I would start in the valve body, look it over real good for any issues, also you could move the solenoids around to see if there is any change in the condition.

SS1, SS2, SS3 and coast clutch solenoids are all the same and can be swapped around. These solenoids ohm out at 22-48 ohms.

5R55E Solenoids.JPG
 












Not the sprag, if that were bad I would only have forward when manually in low gear.
I went in Tuesday evening and swapped out the coast clutch solenoid with a spare. I also took a chance and replaced the ECM with one from a salvage yard. It was $50, didn't make a difference, I figure I can resell it on Ebay. Not getting a flashing OD light, strange behavior. Pushing the OD off button turns on the light so the bulb is OK. Wondering if the shaft speed sensor might be a problem. Tried this just now. Starting out in OD, shifts smoothly in all gears. From 1 - 2 around 13 mph, from 2-3 around 24, into OD around 33-35 and TCC locks at around 40. If I stay around 35 I can let off the gas then re apply and accelerate. Tried to test engine braking. While in OD got the speed up to 30 and manually downshifted, it dropped into 2nd and the engine reved so I have braking. Tried dropping to 1 at around 25-27 but it did not engage until it slowed to about 22 and then I had engine braking. Check engine light is not on but I wonder if the bulb is bad, might check that and then have someone hook up to check for codes.

Update to this. I pulled the VB and there were no blown spots. I've seen on various posts about removing the spring in the forward valve so just for kicks I did. Still doing the same thing. As far as engine braking, in manual 1, get up to about 18-20 and let off gas, RPM stays up and I can feel the engine resistance. Shifting up in all gears is so smooth. The only thing that could cause what is happening would be the forward clutch opening. I'm thinking this isn't a trans problem but some sensor.
 












Reverse Servo Shaft End Play

I am following the diary and rebuilding the Valve body on my 5R55E. While installing the new D-ring seals on the reverse servo I noticed some movement of the servo shaft in the piston. Not much (maybe 1/8") the shaft moves up and down in the piston. I am wondering if this is normal or should it be tight?
 






Normal movement:thumbsup:
 



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Thanks for the quick reply! Going ahead with the rebuild now!
 






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